The CIMO Newsletter is intended as a complementary
means of keeping informed all CIMO members and getting them involved in
the work of the Commission, by reporting regularly on its activities as
well as on other related organizational matters, meetings, publications,
etc. Readers are encouraged to provide their comments.

In order to keep the list
of CIMO members in WMO Publication No. 5 up-to-date, we urge WMO
Member countries to inform the Secretariat promptly of changes
concerning the designation of their members to the CIMO. Thank you.

HIGHLIGHTS

Outcome of EC-LVI
related to CIMO and IMOP

The
fifty-sixth meeting of the WMO Executive Council was held in Geneva, 8-18 June
2004. The acting president of CIMO, Dr Ray Canterford, presented his
report to Council in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, which is now
available to all on the CIMO/IMOP website. Dr Canterford reported on the
structure, substantial achievements and future plans of the Commission in
undertaking the IMOP Programme. He pointed out the work of the OPAGs, in
particular the training activities on Upper-Air technology; the testing of a
flexible radiosonde system; and the upcoming intercomparison of high quality
radiosondes in Mauritius.

The
Council noted with satisfaction that, according to the programme for WMO
Intercomparisons set-up by CIMO-XIII, steps had been taken by CIMO to proceed
with urgently needed intercomparisons, essential
to WMO Programmes that demand accurate homogenous measurements. At this time, the
WMO Intercomparison of Radiosonde Systems has been scheduled to take
place in Mauritius in February 2005; the WMO Laboratory Intercomparisons of Rainfall Intensity (RI) Gauges could
possibly be held at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), Météo‑France
and the NMS of Italy (University of Genova), if the necessary funds could be
identified; and the Field
Intercomparison of RI Measuring Instruments and the Intercomparison
of Thermometer Screens/Shields in conjunction with Humidity Measurements
could only be implemented as planned if the necessary financial resources would
be made available. As regards the Tenth International Pyrheliometer Comparison
and conjoint Regional Pyrheliometer Comparisons planned for September/October
2005, the Council noted that no funds were currently available in the regular
budget to support the participation of Regional and National Radiation Centres.

The Council encouraged CIMO to widely exchange the
results of all its intercomparison studies, noting that there is considerable
interest within the climate community, including scientists outside the NMSs.
CIMO and the Association of
Hydro-Meteorological Equipment Industry (HMEI) were also encouraged to
collaborate with the Commission for Hydrology in the intercomparison of
flow‑measuring instruments and techniques.
The Council discussed and suggested the need to consider, in the future,
intercomparisons of modern technologies, i.e. radiometers and profilers, and to
seek active collaboration with relevant international programmes and
organizations, such as EUMETNET, COST, BIPM and ISO.

The Council appreciated that since EC-LV, five IOM Reports were published
in CD-ROM format and are also available on the CIMO/IMOP website, indicating
great interest and significant resources by CIMO experts. The Council welcomed,
in particular, IOM Report No. 80 - WMO Catalogue of Radiosondes and
Upper-Air Wind Systems in use by Members in 2002 and Compatibility of Radiosonde
Geopotential Measurements for the period from 1998 to 2001, and, following
the presentation of the acting president, urged Members to take into
account information provided therein for the operation and planning of their
national upper‑air networks.

The Council was very satisfied with the significant progress made in the
area of Training and Capacity Building. In view of the success of the first two
Training Workshops on Upper-air Observations (Gaborone, April 2003 and
Casablanca, Dec. 2003), the Council asked CIMO to continue organizing
capacity building workshops, in all WMO Regions, and requested the
Secretary‑General to allocate the necessary resources, as far as possible.
The Council welcomed the offer to host the RA III Training Workshop on
Upper-air Observations at the RMTC Buenos Aires and expressed its
appreciation to Argentina for its efforts to contribute with resource staff and
translation of the training material. The Council also noted the training
activities of ASECNA and welcomed the proposal for WMO to organize, in
collaboration with ASECNA, instrument training in EAMAC, including non-ASECNA
countries.

The Council was pleased that Romania had offered to host the technical
conference (TECO‑2005) and the exhibition on instruments and equipment
(METEOREX-2005), both considered major CIMO events for information exchange and
capacity building. The Council noted that, due to the lack of financial
resources, simultaneous interpretation would not be possible.

The Council requested to continue with the updating of the CMA/CIMO
Instrument Catalogue, possibly in collaboration with the HMEI, in order to
assist Members with the selection of most suitable instruments for applications
within their operational networks. It also requested to post the Catalogue on a
website.

The Council agreed on the need to further strengthen the Regional
Instrument Centres (RICs) and was pleased to note that the RIC Barbados was
being refurbished under the WMO/Finland SIDS‑Caribbean Project. Also, the
Council requested CIMO to review the requirements for the calibration of various
instruments, in particular barometers; and to develop an action programme for
this purpose in collaboration with the RICs and with special attention to the
needs of developing countries.

Professor Dr Vilho
Väisälä Award

The
Council selected Messrs Iwan Holleman and Hans Beekhuis (both of Netherlands) as
the winners of the eighteenth
Professor Dr Vilho Vaisala Award, for
their paper entitled “Analysis and Correction of Dual PRF Velocity Data”,
published in the Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Vol. 20, April 2003.

The Council, recalling that over the years nearly all award winners came
from developed countries, as the selection criteria for granting the award
practically confined a successful competition to leading-edge researchers,
decided to establish a second Dr Väisälä
Award that would mainly focus on instrument work in developing countries or
countries with economies in transition; and adopted therefore the new Guidelines
for Granting the Professor Dr Vilho Väisälä Awards. Both awards
would still be granted on a biennial basis, in connection with the WMO TECO/
METEOREX, and will include a sum of US$10,000 each. The Council agreed
that the nineteenthDr Väisälä
Award (2004) will be the last one to be presented under the current
Guidelines, and that the following selection, for two awards, will be
undertaken during EC‑LVIII in 2006.

TECO
2005 and METEOREX 2005

The WMO Technical Conference on Meteorological and Environmental Instruments
and Methods of Observation (TECO-2005) and
the associated Exhibition of Meteorological Instruments,
Equipment and Services (METEOREX-2005) will be held in
Bucharest, Romania from 4 to 7 May 2005 and from 4 to 6 May 2005,
respectively.

The announcement and call for papers for TECO-2005 has already been
distributed to WMO Members and other interested parties in mid‑April 2004,
and is also available on the WWW CIMO/IMOP website at: http://www.wmo.int/web/www/IMOP/IMOP-home.html,
under the heading “CIMO TECO METEOREX”. The deadline for submission of
abstracts is 15 September 2004.

CIMO
MEETINGS

The first session of the Expert Team
on Surface Technology and Measurement Techniques will be held in Geneva from 6 to 9 October 2004. The meeting will address
the issue of development of standards for systems measuring present weather,
including clouds, icing, state of the ground, lightning and thunderstorms; and
standards for automation of manual, visual and subjective observations. It will
also discuss standardization of algorithms for AWSs, including algorithms for
the automatic assessment of cloud base height and cloud amount.The meeting will be informed on training activities under the IMOP
Programme since CIMO-XIII and will be asked to provide guidance on future
training needs and on the need for development of new training material.

Newsletter
Note

The Newsletter will be issued at least twice a year and will be
distributed by e-mail to CIMO members and affiliates, including the
Hydro-Meteorological Equipment Industry Association (HMEI) and the
International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), provided that the
e-mail addresses are known to the Secretariat.

The contents of this Newsletter may be forwarded to other persons
interested in contributing to the work of CIMO, or interested in
receiving information on its activities.

Information on the implementation of the World Weather Watch/
Instruments and Methods of Observation Programme as well as on the work
of the Commission for Instruments and Methods of Observation, is
regularly posted on the WWW website at: